There exist on the market today a number of boats which are powered by pedal-driven paddle wheels. Such water cycles are disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,640,239, which discloses a float apparatus for attachment to a conventional bicycle; 3,039,422, which discloses a paddle apparatus comprising a drive gear, a foot pedal affixed to a spring mounted drive rod and a paddle attached to a power arm; U.S. Pat. No. 3,120,833, which discloses a paddle boat in the shape of a swan, comprising a body member and a foot pedal driving mechanism which drives a paddle assembly; U.S. Pat. No. 3,249,084, which discloses a water tricycle comprising spaced and aligned cylindrical floats manually rotated by foot cranks. Other water cycles are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,954,079, which discloses a dual hull water bicycle for use over land and water; U.S. Pat. No. 3,352,276, which discloses a pontoon boat cycle drive; U.S. Pat. No. 3,756,187, which discloses a device for walking on water; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,756,189, a water vehicle comprising a motorcycle-type body supported on three pontoons.
Yet another model of paddle boat is that which is often available for rental at beaches and lakefront resorts. This craft comprises a fibreglas body affixed to floats and powered by a paddle wheel driven by pedals mounted on a crank shaft.
A number of portable craft are disclosed in the patent literature. British Pat. No. 974,208 discloses pedal operated inflatable catamarans comprising a pair of inflatable floats and pedal operable propulsion means comprising paddles attached to the ends of a two-part cranked shaft. U.S. Pat. No. 2,468,889 discloses a portable propelling apparatus for boats comprising a longitudinally adjustable frame extending along the length of the boat and a U-shaped member connected to the frame onto which are mounted arms supporting water wheels whose depth is adjustable. U.S. Pat. No. 2,592,498 discloses pedal boat propulsion apparatus comprising a paddle arm operated by a pedal, mountable on the inner surface of the side of a boat. British Pat. No. 1,074,609 discloses a collapsible water cycle comprising a pair of hollowed out floats which serve as a casing, and a tubular armature embedded in the floats to support the driving and propelling assembly which is affixed thereto as the hinged, folding central axis of the floats. The propelling assembly comprises a propeller driven by gears via transmission means.
Additional boat propelling assemblies are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,139,061 and 3,225,733 which provide propulsion mechanisms for boats with transoms; U.S. Pat. No. 3,410,244 which discloses an amphibious boat; U.S. Pat. No. 3,476,072, which discloses a hydrofoil propelled water craft; U.S. Pat. No. 3,874,319, which discloses a manually propelled water craft; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,922,994 which discloses a twin hulled outrigger sailboat.